3 February 2009

@IndieBoundMeg linked us to a wonderful, spot-on article from Bill Schubart, Vermont Public Radio, about local bookstores and how they affect communities. He puts into words my thoughts exactly.

I want to quote the whole article here, but I’ll instead give you a sample and suggest you read or listen to the rest. It’s short.

The buying of a book is a rich allegory about community. We’re now seeing and feeling the collapse of our own hyper-consumerism in which speed and money were thought to be the only essentials. Remember the expression time is money? Amazon has conquered both. They sell at deep discounts and carry or drop-ship everything in a few days. They offer an amazing service to the world, but undermine community.